It can pretty disconcerting if you are an avid podcaster, to hear that podcasts are on their way out. With newer entertainment avenues opening up a certain section of people firmly believe that podcasts will soon join floppies and Myspace in techie heaven. And then there are those of us who feel that it is an exciting time to be a podcaster, as video podcasts, satellite podcasts, iTunes, and Stitcher means they are seen and heard in a lot many places than before.

The cult hit “Video killed the radio star” was all the rage in the eighties. It’s been over thirty years now, and, going by the ratings for the latest episode of the Rush Limbaugh show, radio is anything but dead.

Reinventing itself

Reinventing isn’t exactly dying. It is just keeping pace with the times. RSS subscriptions are not the be all and end all, of podcasts anymore. Nor is being listed on, every podcasting directory ever created! The key to sustain audience interest is to reach out to a specific audience, or cater to one particular niche. There is no point in casting a wide net. Different podcasting directories attract different kinds of audience. The field is becoming more structured than ever before.

As traditional methods of podcasting wane out, the pessimists come out of the woods and claim that the world is going to end.

An inexpensive advertisement option

If there is one reason why podcasts are not going to bite the dust anytime soon is that they are the most inexpensive advertisement option, available today. Niche businesses find podcasts an innovative tool to spread the word around. Small weekly episodes about latest events or new products and services and fun interviews with staff, is an effective way to stay on peoples minds.

Bigger and better

Youtube, smartphones from where podcasts can be streamed from anywhere, a growing interest in the perceptions of the common man has only made the podcasting landscape diverse, and well, alive and kicking. And I can vouch for this fact, as working with a firm that offers podcast transcription services, our phone lines are busier than ever before with calls from podcasters super excited about their upcoming podcasts.